Boss, Employee Disagree on Hiring

Q: I work closely with the owner of my company and do much of the interviewing and screening of new employees.

Although my boss says I’m ultimately responsible for hiring, he will sit in on the first part of an applicant’s interview “to get a feel for the person.” After a few minutes, he will then give me “thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down” when the applicant is not looking, excuse himself, and let me finish the interview.

My boss thinks he is a very good judge of character. But I often disagree with his decisions. He will reject candidates I think are wonderful, and he likes people I think are terrible.

Since it is his company, I often defer to him and hire people I’m not happy with. How can I deal with this problem?

--M.K., Pasadena

A: Your boss is interfering with your ability to do your job and hire the best employees. In addition, he is falling prey to a common interviewing error by making snap judgments of applicants based on very limited and brief information.

The fact is that people are not very accurate at judging the suitability of a potential employee from a brief interview. As you probably know, successful hiring requires careful consideration of an applicant’s skills, experience and record of accomplishments, rather than relying solely on impressions from a few minutes of interaction.

You need to take charge of the situation. Sit down with your boss and clarify who is actually in charge of hiring. Ask him how he would feel if you disagreed with one of his hiring decisions. This may lead to a discussion about his quick judgments of applicants and could resolve the problem.

If not, you need to be able to back up your decisions in case there is a disagreement between you and your boss.

Do a thorough review of each applicant’s resume. Conduct sound, structured interviews, asking each applicant the same questions focusing on work related knowledge, skills, and abilities. Follow up with reference checks and gather other pertinent information.

Record all of this information so that you can justify your hiring decisions.

--Ron Riggio, director

Kravis Leadership Institute

Claremont McKenna College